"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence."
--Frederick Douglass
I found this quote as I was reading his book "A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" which I have to write a book report on. I've been thinking about it all day and how true this should be for all of us. I'm not sure if it's just me but I've had some difficulty finding out who I really am and who I'm going to be in the future. I'm just at that point in life, 20 years old and trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I'm living in a different country surrounded by things that are totally alien to me and basically my life is turned upside down. I have no idea what to do.
My life has been spent hiding behind this mask of what I thought people wanted me to be. The only problem is, I've been back there so long I forgot what the real me looks like. How do you find who you really are? Does it just jump out from the background, put both hands on the sides of your face and tell you to open your eyes and look yourself in the face? Or has it been so trodden on that once you finally start looking for it and calling it's name, it has to wake up and reorient itself with it's surroundings before it starts to play Marco Polo with you? When you find who you really are, do you come out a little at a time like a chick hatching from an egg? Or do you just burst out like those people that hide in fake cakes and jump out of the top and surprise everyone?
Life is full of so many questions. Who am I? Where do I belong? What do I want to do with my life? Who are my true friends? Am I really what I think I am? Where am I?
I will rebel in my own way. I don't need you as an example. I won't follow your footsteps to darkness. I'll make my own where I want and when I want and how I want. No one can change my life except me, so stop trying. Me rebellion is my own.
Maybe I'll drink and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll eat and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll write and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll stop and maybe I won't. It doesn't matter what clothes I wear. It doesn't matter what I put on my skin. I don't care what you think when I walk by, I only care what I think when I look in the mirror, if I look int he mirror.
I will rebel in my own way. I don't need you as an example. I won't follow your footsteps to darkness. I'll make my own where I want and when I want and how I want. No one can change my life except me, so stop trying. My rebellion is my own.
Maybe I'll skate and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll play and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll live and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll laugh and maybe I won't. It doesn't matter what movies I watch. It doesn't matter where I work. I don't care if you don't ike the person I have become. If I am happy then that should be all that matters to anyone. It's my life and I will rebel in my own way. No one can change who I am.
I will rebel in my own way. I don't need you as an example. I won't follow your footsteps to darkness. I'll make my own where I want and when I want and how I want. No one can change my life except me, so stop trying. My rebellion is my own.
I've got to figure out who I am. Don't judge me. Don't ridicule me. Just be a friend. If you can't handle that, walk away. I need to do what's right for me, not for the rest of the world. It's time to take a moment for myself. Find out who the real me is. How I dress, talk, walk, do my hair, act. Everything.
--Frederick Douglass
I found this quote as I was reading his book "A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" which I have to write a book report on. I've been thinking about it all day and how true this should be for all of us. I'm not sure if it's just me but I've had some difficulty finding out who I really am and who I'm going to be in the future. I'm just at that point in life, 20 years old and trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I'm living in a different country surrounded by things that are totally alien to me and basically my life is turned upside down. I have no idea what to do.
My life has been spent hiding behind this mask of what I thought people wanted me to be. The only problem is, I've been back there so long I forgot what the real me looks like. How do you find who you really are? Does it just jump out from the background, put both hands on the sides of your face and tell you to open your eyes and look yourself in the face? Or has it been so trodden on that once you finally start looking for it and calling it's name, it has to wake up and reorient itself with it's surroundings before it starts to play Marco Polo with you? When you find who you really are, do you come out a little at a time like a chick hatching from an egg? Or do you just burst out like those people that hide in fake cakes and jump out of the top and surprise everyone?
Life is full of so many questions. Who am I? Where do I belong? What do I want to do with my life? Who are my true friends? Am I really what I think I am? Where am I?
I will rebel in my own way. I don't need you as an example. I won't follow your footsteps to darkness. I'll make my own where I want and when I want and how I want. No one can change my life except me, so stop trying. Me rebellion is my own.
Maybe I'll drink and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll eat and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll write and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll stop and maybe I won't. It doesn't matter what clothes I wear. It doesn't matter what I put on my skin. I don't care what you think when I walk by, I only care what I think when I look in the mirror, if I look int he mirror.
I will rebel in my own way. I don't need you as an example. I won't follow your footsteps to darkness. I'll make my own where I want and when I want and how I want. No one can change my life except me, so stop trying. My rebellion is my own.
Maybe I'll skate and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll play and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll live and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll laugh and maybe I won't. It doesn't matter what movies I watch. It doesn't matter where I work. I don't care if you don't ike the person I have become. If I am happy then that should be all that matters to anyone. It's my life and I will rebel in my own way. No one can change who I am.
I will rebel in my own way. I don't need you as an example. I won't follow your footsteps to darkness. I'll make my own where I want and when I want and how I want. No one can change my life except me, so stop trying. My rebellion is my own.
I've got to figure out who I am. Don't judge me. Don't ridicule me. Just be a friend. If you can't handle that, walk away. I need to do what's right for me, not for the rest of the world. It's time to take a moment for myself. Find out who the real me is. How I dress, talk, walk, do my hair, act. Everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment